First baby, early days, when do I need to see GP?!

[BlackRose93]

Hiya,
New here; don't know all the lingo yet forgive me, I found out two days ago I'm pregnant with my first baby, long story short I've struggled with weight and therefor irregular then non existent periods, I lost over three stone last year and finally some sort of periods kicked back in, all over the place but natural periods for the first time in a few years, fast forward to now, I definitely did not see this coming after what feels like hundreds of negative tests over the years so I'm beyond happy, but I'm also very overwhelmed naturally, but because my cycles are all over the place I'm not sure how far along I really am, I've done four tests because I didn't believe any of them haha, the last two were clear blue, the first said 3+ then the second said 2-3 so I'm sort of going off of those and assuming about three weeks? I rang the GP this morning and the receptionist very bluntly told me she has no appointments and it didn't matter because I didn't need to see a doctor until seven weeks anyway, I explained I wasn't sure how far I was but she didn't seem to want to hear it so I'm just a bit flustered now, I know it's very early on but the fact I'm even pregnant feels like a miracle and combine it with my anxiety and mental health I think I'm doing well to stay calm right now, any advice?!
Thanks for reading that whole ramble!! 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

In most areas you don’t need to see a GP and can self refer to the hospital you want to give birth in (have a look on the hospital website). You should then get a booking appointment for around 8-10 weeks

Yep where I live you just self refer to via the hospital website too.

Op is your BMI above or below 30? I only ask because if it is 30+ then you may need a higher dose of Folic acid which needs to be prescribed by a Doctor, so worth asking about that if relevant to you.

I also have a history of irregular cycles and so found out about my pregnancy quite late on, having no idea how far gone I was. I could self-refer to the community midwife through my GP surgery which asked for the date of my last period and they calculated a rough date from that to work out when the booking in appointment should be and the '12 week scan'. Based on my LMP date this happened all within a week and scan confirmed I was already 14 weeks gone and everything has been fine, so all I can say is try and stay calm and good luck with your pregnancy!

If you know when your last period was you can use an online due date calculator to give you a rough idea if you're worried. The NHS website has one.

Also, I haven't seen a GP at all, and you can always ask the GP surgery what the process is for your local area rather than just booking an appointment.

Sorry I really hope that doesn't come across as rude @BlackRose93, I'm not saying your bmi is high or low or anything.
I only mention because I wasn't aware until I picked up my forms for the community midwife and they had included a little note about it and its something best taken sooner rather than later if you didn't get to see anyone until 7 weeks.

@Csari

Op is your BMI above or below 30? I only ask because if it is 30+ then you may need a higher dose of Folic acid which needs to be prescribed by a Doctor, so worth asking about that if relevant to you.

Over 30 so that's good to know thank you!

@pandawearsprada

I also have a history of irregular cycles and so found out about my pregnancy quite late on, having no idea how far gone I was. I could self-refer to the community midwife through my GP surgery which asked for the date of my last period and they calculated a rough date from that to work out when the booking in appointment should be and the '12 week scan'. Based on my LMP date this happened all within a week and scan confirmed I was already 14 weeks gone and everything has been fine, so all I can say is try and stay calm and good luck with your pregnancy!

If you know when your last period was you can use an online due date calculator to give you a rough idea if you're worried. The NHS website has one.

Also, I haven't seen a GP at all, and you can always ask the GP surgery what the process is for your local area rather than just booking an appointment.

See this is the thing if I go by my last period and use the calculator I'm already at like three months, but since the clear blue tests said 3+ but also 2-3 weeks I assumed I wasn't very far along, even when I was getting "regular" periods a few times in a row they were almost two months apart give or take a week or so? I'm not sure what protocol is where I am but the receptionist said they would refer me later on so I'm guessing here it can be done through the GP? She was just super unhelpful and left me with more questions than i started with 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

@Csari

Sorry I really hope that doesn't come across as rude *@BlackRose93*, I'm not saying your bmi is high or low or anything. I only mention because I wasn't aware until I picked up my forms for the community midwife and they had included a little note about it and its something best taken sooner rather than later if you didn't get to see anyone until 7 weeks.

No don't be silly I'm not that easily offended I genuinely appreciate any and all advice and I'm definitely in the morbidly obese category which is something I'm very aware of regarding this baby so thank you!

@BlackRose93 I believe that if the digital tests say 2-3 weeks then it means around 4-5 weeks pregnant 😊 the tests show weeks since ovulation. In my area you just phone the GP and self refer to the midwife but lots of places are online referrals. I don’t think I could self refer until around 7 weeks if I remember correctly. Then had booking in appointment over the phone around 9 weeks.

@BlackRose93 Should have said, I also have high BMI and was only prescribed higher dose folic acid from my booking appt until 12 weeks. Until then I took the Seven Seas stage 2 pregnancy vitamins that I bought in Boots and midwife was more than happy with that.

[quote RWK29]@BlackRose93 I believe that if the digital tests say 2-3 weeks then it means around 4-5 weeks pregnant 😊 the tests show weeks since ovulation. In my area you just phone the GP and self refer to the midwife but lots of places are online referrals. I don’t think I could self refer until around 7 weeks if I remember correctly. Then had booking in appointment over the phone around 9 weeks.[/quote]
I've been searching the local hospitals website etc and see nothing about forms or self referral only numbers for emergencies and delivery! So I'm assuming it'll be through the doctors, so when you say seven weeks is that seven weeks since ovulation or like the test says 3 so I'd have to wait four weeks still? Sorry I'm doing my best but the whole start of the pregnancy adding the two weeks on is proving too difficult for my brain to comprehend 😂😂

I’ve never seen a gp. The gp receptionist just gave me the number for my local midwifery base and I had to self refer. I wasn’t 100% sure on dates bc (due to a miscarriage and no period) so I called them and explained. So they did my booking appointment sooner rather than later. I did have a bleed at what I thought was 7 weeks so had an early scan (I called the gp as I wasn’t booked in with the midwife at that point, and he wouldn’t see me but sent me straight to a and e). This moved my dates on 2 weeks. Every time I have a scan my dates don’t seem 100%.

It differs from area to area - I did have to see my GP (at around 8 weeks) for an initial appointment and then had my booking in appointment with the midwife after that.

If you call your GP surgery the receptionists should be able to tell you what's what.

The ClearBlue tests indicate the weeks since conception, ie you conceived three weeks ago, but your pregnancy is dated from the start of your last period so roughly two weeks earlier (although it can vary if periods irregular, so that dating scan will give a closer idea of gestational age)

It sounds like you are roughly five weeks pregnant

I have a high BMI and rang the GP straight away in my second pregnancy and was put on the high dose folic acid. Best to start as early as you can.